Thursday, July 31, 2014

ben frost, chicago, halloween!

this should be fun: ben frost will be coming to chicago on friday, october 31st. that's right, halloweeeeeeeeeeen...

a few months ago frost put out his latest album, A U R O R A, the sounds of which he's taking on tour. it's a challenging album, as usual, and one that sounds more futuristic than his other work, yet it has a curiously polished touch to it - but yes, it's still filled with plenty of distorted heft. i think i still prefer by the throat; i saw frost play live during sonar chicago in 2010, shortly after the release of that LP, and he had the seated crowd enthralled as he slowly let loose his swells of guitar noise and pensive beats. but the new album is still an interesting listen, so i can't wait to see how frost performs the new material live. the empty bottle-related show is happening at constellation, formerly known as the viaduct theater, and (though i'm not sure if i've ever been) i've heard good things about the spot. tickets and more details are right here.

also on the lineup with frost is cleared, a chicago duo consisting of michael vallera (aka COIN, an alias that's appeared on opal tapes) and steven hess (who's been involved with groups like pan-american and locrian). spaced-out, reverberated guitars and rattling, loose percussion seem to be the norm for the duo, as they've put out a trilogy of albums on the local label immune over the past few years. you can try all three at the label's bandcamp page.

so, it sounds like an interesting night. zoinks!

Monday, July 14, 2014

monday moods: stream for free

 
happy monday evening... now here's this: a list of musical stuff that's graciously been made available to stream in full online. some new stuff, some stuff that's a little older, all alphabetically arranged stuff. and if you like it, consider buying it!

cloudface - untitled here's some fresh jams from opal tapes. the seven-tracker comes courtesy of vancouver artist cloudface (aka david reynolds), who's put out a couple other very cool releases over the past two years. i suppose you can call most of what he does spacey, subdued, analog deep house, though sometimes the pace quickens, and other times it dissolves into ambiance. either way, nice. (link)


... oh and on that opal tapes tip, nyc label affiliate patricia - whose body issues i just had to blog about a few months ago - will be coming to chicago next sunday, july 27th! he's on the bill for body talk - free the body, a show taking place at the burlington. only $5 cover; keep it in mind...

dasha rush - "ocean shy" (video) the more ambient and introspective half of dasha's recent record for deep sound channel gets an official video. given the sounds involved, it's a suitably aqueous and dreamy trip. (link)

nuel - aquaplano ltd 01 there's been much celebration about the recent reissue of donato dozzy and nuel's aquaplano sessions on spectrum spools, but let's not forget this excellent 2010 solo release from nuel, whose textured, tribal, ambient-inflected sounds are likely imprinted into the minds of certain techno heads as well. over at bandcamp you can also check out his other, electro-leaning aquaplano record. (link)


... also here's some interesting to note: nuel seemed to have gone away in recent years, but following a solo live show at tresor in berlin a few months ago, he's now booked again in berlin alongside donato dozzy for an aquaplano sessions set, and their agency has announced they'll be "available for a selected few worldwide gigs"...

voiski - smoke machine 095 voiski is a french producer of intriguingly eclectic, often wonderfully evocative techno. this live set dropped through smoke machine at the beginning of the year, and it's still fresh. (link)


yuka - episodes of yesterday a brand-new digital EP on silent season, and what looks to be the most expansive release in yuka's catalog. it's a pleasantly personal journey with hypnotic drums, warm bleeps and field recordings. (link)



Monday, July 7, 2014

T.E.W. - eighteen

here's something fresh for your late monday (or early tuesday, whatever), a new EP on electronique.it's in-house label.

this one is a two-tracker called eighteen, and it comes from the roman duo T.E.W., which is short for Traveling into Esoteric World. what's up for offer here are two wonderfully melodic, slow-building acid/electro hybrids, both originally produced more than fifteen years ago. give them a try with the player below, and you can read more about the recordings, and the duo and their role as part of rome's underground electronic music scene, at the label's bandcamp shop.